Let’s fast forward to the Browns’ first game of the 2014 season, whenever, wherever and whoever it’s against — the NFL will reveal all that when it’s good and ready; you just sit there and wait — imagine, when that day comes, if. . .
The Browns had taken the field with Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach and Johnny Manziel as their new starting quarterback.
Talk about some buzz.
Talk about some juice.
Talk about an answer to the question that eternally surrounds this little team that can’t, which is: Does anyone here know what they are doing?
It won’t happen now, of course. Good things, big things rarely happen for the Browns. That’s part of the problem. Actually that’s not part of the problem, that’s the problem.
Harbaugh said thanks, but no thanks. Manziel could still find his way to Dawg Pound Nation through the NFL Draft. But the thought of Harbaugh and Manziel ushering in a new era of Browns football together, is almost too delicious to contemplate.
Minimum, it’s the two of them on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s NFL Preview issue (“Re-Birth in Cleveland!”).
Not going to happen now, though, because Harbaugh said thanks but no thanks. People running the Browns hear that a lot when they ask somebody if they would like to jump on board.
The money, the years, the football autonomy could all be there with the job offer. . . but. . . well, you know. . . it’s the Browns.
Sigh.
It’s easy to take shots at Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, but I give him credit for swinging for the fences on Harbaugh. That’s the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that will eventually pay off. When? Who do I look like, Nostradamus?
For now, it’s enough that Haslam seems to be getting a better idea on the lay of the land in the NFL. He seems to be getting a better grasp on who and what kind of people are good for your organization and who and what kind are not so good.
This is good.
Trading for Harbaugh would have been even better. That would have been a Haslam home run. A grand slam. It would have thrown up a brick wall to the past and presented a sun-splashed vision of the future for a fan base beaten down and worn ragged by the rank ineptitude they have observed over the last umpteen years.
If ever a fan base needed a “wow” moment from its team, it’s this fan base and this team. The Browns need to give their fans a reason — Harbaugh would have been an electrifying reason — to forget about the past and focus on the future.
Maybe Mike Pettine can do that. But it will take time. Harbaugh would have done it instantly. Trading for Harbaugh would have been Haslam pulling a rabbit out of his hat for a town thirsting for a magic moment.
Maybe drafting Manziel can be it.
Maybe Johnny Football can also be Johnny Magic.
Drafting Manziel, if he’s still available when the Browns turn down the lights and gather around their Ouija board to discern who to take with the fourth overall pick in the draft, would be another swing for the fences by the Haslam Think Tank — but a worthy swing.
Manziel might be a high-risk, high-reward pick, but so what? That’s exactly the reason to draft him, not a reason not to. Manziel is almost certainly going to be selected somewhere in the first round of the draft — which is five rounds higher than the Patriots drafted Tom Brady in 2000.
The quarterback pool in this draft includes no Bradys or no Andrew Lucks. All the top quarterbacks in this draft have warts, Manziel included. None of the top quarterbacks has Manziel’s star power or “wow” factor.
If the Browns take a quarterback with that fourth pick, they need to err on the side of “wow.”
Because what the Browns need most, what Haslam needs most, is to make some news that doesn’t elicit chuckles, snickers or head-scratching from the masses. They need, for credibility’s sake, to start making moves to establish that those running the team “get it.”
Harbaugh? Through no fault of their own, they missed on him. But at least they missed with honor.
Around here, let’s call that progress.
-- The Knicks’ Raymond Felton was arrested for illegal possession of guns. Does that make him no longer a point guard but a shooting guard?
-- Talk about a drought. Disgraced slugger Ryan Braun has hit just one home run in the Milwaukee Brewers’ last 66 games. It came in the Brewers’ spring training opener, vs. Oakland. That was also the only game of the 66 that Braun played in. He was suspended for the previous 65 games for failing a drug test.
Let that. . . be a lesson. . . to someone.
-- At a sports conference at MIT, former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, came right out and said what is obvious to anyone paying attention: The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t trying to win.
Van Gundy called it “Embarrassing. I don’t care. (NBA Commissioner) Adam Silver can say there’s no tanking (but) if you’re putting that (Philadelphia) roster on the floor, you’re doing everything you can possibly do to try to lose.”
The Sixers are so bad they aren’t even good at losing. They have failed to lose 15 games this season, although to their credit that’s only the second fewest failures to lose in the NBA this season. Milwaukee leads the NBA in failing to lose. The Bucks have 11 non-losses this season.
-- Kyrie Irving recorded his first career triple-double last week. Ironically, in the same game, Irving’s backcourt partner Jarrett Jack had a triple-single.
-- Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson has turned down an invitation to compete on “Dancing With The Stars.”
Anybody got Brandon Weeden’s phone number?
-- The Browns have until Monday to put the franchise tag on Alex Mack or T.J. Ward.
Meanwhile March 3 is the deadline for putting the “make us an offer” tag on Davone Bess.Weak of the week
New Mexico State’s K.C. Ross-Miller has been suspended for two games by the Western Athletic Conference for throwing a basketball at a Utah Valley player as the buzzer sounded to end Utah Valley’s 66-60 victory in overtime. The incident occurred just as the fans stormed the court, and resulted in a wild brawl among players and fans.
Isn’t it time to put a halt to court storming fans in college basketball? Where are the United Manufacturers of Basketball Floors lobbyists when you need them?
Weak. Very weak.